Israeli Attacks on Gaza Kill 44, Including 15 Children. Will Ceasefire Hold?

AMY GOODMAN:At least 44 Palestinians including 15 children were killed by Israeli military bombardment in Gaza. The Israeli military bombardment ended on Sunday, just three days before the ceasefire. At least 350 Palestinians were also injured. Palestinians accused the Israeli government of launching the attack in an effort to build political support ahead of November’s elections. The Israeli assault on Palestinian children left behind horrifying scenes for the children. This is Leen Matar, a 9-year old girl who was pulled from the rubble.

LEEN MATAR: [translated] I was at my grandfather’s house when suddenly the rubble started to fall on us. The neighbors came to our aid and we began screaming. … We don’t want to keep going through this. Every year there is a strike, a killing of children, and injuries. I am happy to be alive because I had a dream that I wanted to fulfill. I want to be a doctor and help people in times like these.

AMY GOODMAN:Israel claimed that the bombardment of Gaza was preemptive and targeted militants affiliated with Islamic Jihad. Two top Islamic Jihad commanders were killed during the attack. Israel also cut off Gaza’s fuel, causing blackouts throughout the region.

For more, we travel to Gaza to speak with Issam, a Palestinian journalist, activist and researcher.

Issam, welcome to Democracy Now!This ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad has been declared. Can you talk about what happened this weekend?

ISSAM ADWAN:Thank you so much for hosting me.

As a father to a 2-month-old infant, the scene is as terrifying as ever. [inaudible]We expect everything from Israel even during the ceasefire. There have been many instances in the past that indicated violations of the ceasefire. It is a terrible situation. We witnessed 44 Palestinians die, including 15 children, and six women. This is half of the Palestinian casualties. There are no words to describe the war crimes that have been committed, even with the claims of the Israeli authority that they are targeting PIJ’s senior members, military senior members. This included, of all things, the targeting of residential properties, killing children and even women.

AMY GOODMAN:Could you please tell us about what started it?

ISSAM ADWAN:Just to be clear, you mentioned that Israel cut fuel supplies for Gaza during the bombardment. But that happened four days prior to the escalation. That was when the Israeli administration decided that both the Erez crossing and Kerem Shalom crossings were closed. These crossings are the main points of entry and exit for Gazan goods, fuel, and medical equipment. When they decided to do this, it was accompanied by the provocative action of detaining Bassam al-Saadi (a senior member) of the Israeli military. PIJIn the West Bank, obviously, with no response from the political parties here. They have increased violence with the attack on Tayseer al Jabari, a senior member the PIJGaza. To give you an understanding of Tayseer, al-Jabari was more of a politician than a soldier.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about the two Palestinian Islamic Jihad leaders who were killed and Israel’s assertion that this was a preemptive attack on a possible attack against Israel?

ISSAM ADWAN: I don’t know how to describe this properly, but what preemptive attacks, when included that the international laws, especially the international humanitarian laws, which prohibit targeting buildings and areas which contains hundreds of civilians? Gaza is a 365-kilometer-wide area in which 2 million people are forced to live with an intentional policy of suffocating every norm of their existence. How can you possibly target senior officials of the government? PIJ? They were, as I said, more political than military personnel, so they were not a significant threat to the Israeli government.

But following what has been happening inside — I mean, the dispute happening inside the Israeli administration ahead of the pre-elections coming in the future, that they are using the Palestinian blood to promote a campaign for certain individuals, especially with the decreasing of the public support provided to Lapid and Gantz, in particular, during the run of the current government.

AMY GOODMAN:Discuss the Israeli elections in November. Let’s talk about how you feel they impact your life.

ISSAM ADWAN: It’s actually the same. No matter who runs the Israeli government, it’s always the same, with the same policy to suffocate the Gaza Strip. We’re talking about 15 years of blockade. The blockade decimated the existence of all Gazans. Although there were many people in the Israeli government with different views and policies, all of them were focused on the same goal: to ensure that Gazans do not have a normal life. This extent leads us to think that this change inside the Israeli government is just a minor change, just an appearance change of who’s leading the government, but the policy remains the same thing, either being the right wing or left wing of Israelis.

AMY GOODMAN:Now let’s discuss Gaza. What does it mean to have a blackout? And the number of casualties, what’s the latest figure? We heard 44 people were injured, more than a quarter of which were children, and over 300 others. What’s happening in the hospitals? How do you get these numbers?

ISSAM ADWAN: Yes. With the — as I mentioned, as I highlighted before, that the Israeli administration decided — implemented the closure of the Gaza Strip four days ahead of the operation start in Gaza, including a shortage — including blocking the entrance of fuel, which is a — which is Gaza mainly depends to run eight hours a day in the normal cases. With the shortage of the fuel, of course, it influenced — it hugely influenced the capacity of the hospitals to treat those injuries and also to put those dead people in the proper places. This is a sign of the harsh policies the Israeli government has been using in Gaza.

And I don’t know how to describe this in a human-side level, because even to me personally, I have experienced even — because the media mainly focusing on Gaza whenever there are hundreds of people dying, hundreds of houses bombed, but there are other times during these 15 years of blockade people are dying because of the poverty. People are dying from lack of hope and lack of opportunities for work. The media has neglected to cover Gaza’s situation.

AMY GOODMAN:After three days of intense rocket attack by Israeli forces, Israel agreed to a Cairo mediation truce with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

TAREK SELMI: [translated]We have now reached a deal and Egypt has committed to release Khalil Awawdeh (and Bassam al-Saadi) from Israeli prisons as soon as possible. We announced a ceasefire around 11:30 and we are grateful for the Egyptian efforts to end the battle.

AMY GOODMAN: That’s an Islamic Jihad spokesperson. Issam Adwan, can you talk about Egypt’s involvement here and where you think this is going at this point?

ISSAM ADWAN: Yeah. As I said before, the ceasefire is never a safe solution for the people of Gaza, because it moves no tangible improvements on the situation in Gaza of day by day and from a war to war, especially the wars of 2008, ’12, ’14 and 2021 and this current one. The infrastructure of Gaza has been severely damaged. The equipment and medical expertise required to treat patients are not easily found.

So, the ceasefire and the solution that occurred between the IJ-Israeli side had three conditions. The first was to release Sheikh Bassam, who was detained in the preceding days before the escalation. The second was to release Khalil Abawdeh, a Palestinian prisoner who has been on hunger strike since more than 100 days. He was transferred to medical care because of intentional medical negligence. These demands are indicators of how serious the situation is. And that’s why the situation is not improving.

And people do not feel safety, because Israel can determine a new round of escalation throughout assassinating a valuable target, as they claim, despite the fact that even the Israeli media outlets, they do not recognize this as a big of achievement, the killing — and I mean by that the killing of Mansour and Tayseer al-Jabari. As I mentioned before, they were more a political target than a military target. There is no notable achievement, but the Israeli government continues to boast about it.

AMY GOODMAN: Israel is saying that a number of the Palestinians killed were killed by the backfiring of Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s own missiles. Issam Adwan, your response?

ISSAM ADWAN:I believe that the Israeli side used an anonymous video that shows nothing in the middle of darkness that was taken during the bombardment on Jabalia refugee camps. So there were no, I would say, clear indications that this is by the PIJ’s misfired rocket. We witnessed massive bombardment of Gaza between 9 p.m. and 12 p.m. More than 12 targets were struck on Jabalia camp during these times. It was not clear whether this was the case.

But let’s take into consideration the exclusive power. The Israeli side has always undermined the potential, the rocket’s potential, of the Palestinian resistance, and now they are recognizing that this missile — this rocket could kill seven individuals, seven Palestinians. I don’t think this makes any sense, because Israel exaggerates whenever the exaggeration in its benefits, and they undermine the potential of the Palestinians whenever they see it fit.

AMY GOODMAN: You tweeted, “The ceasefire is never a time to celebrate for Gazans, but rather a moment to mourn the deaths of innocent civilians killed by the Israeli warplane — To barely survive wondering ‘am I going to be next?’” Can we end where we started? You’re a new father. Sara is a 2-month-old girl. Can you tell us about your vision for Gaza’s future?

ISSAM ADWAN: It’s really terrifying during thinking about it all the years, even before Sara came to my life, that I have a huge sense of guilt that I brought her into life. It’s really pessimist to talk about it, but inside of me it eats me alive that I brought a child into a situation that never rested. I was born in 1993 and have lived my whole life under occupation. For the past 15 years, I have been denied most of my rights, including the right for an education outside of the workplace or to be treated for illness. So, imagining the situation applies to my daughter Sara is terrifying me the most, because being a journalist and being exposed to — being exposed, hugely exposed, to cases of slaughtering children and women, it keeps echoing in my mind, it keeps echoing in my heart, and it eats me from inside, that is it going to be next, and if it’s not me, it could be my Sara.

AMY GOODMAN:We would like to thank Issam Abwan, a Palestinian journalist, activist, and researcher, for being with our cause.

Next up, we go to Colombia, where the newly inaugurated President Gustavo Petro is ushering in a new political era with Francia Márquez Mina, the first Afro-Colombian woman to be elected vice president. Stay with us.